Housing starts increased 6.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000 following a sharp decline in April. But new construction remains below the million-home pace of March, the highest level in five years.

Shares of the nation’s biggest homebuilders rose before the market opened.

The Labor Department also reported Tuesday that inflation has been held in check. Rising energy costs were partly offset by cheaper food, and the consumer price index ticked up a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent last month.